Thread: I Need Advice on Aluminum Radiators

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Originally Posted by 37 Caddy

The most basic question is: Is it worth another $150 just to have a shinier radiator? Is there any reason to believe that there will be any significant performance difference?

The answer to that may or may not be yes, although the real question depends on construction not appearance. If the one you got from Speedway is an epoxied construction then it is basically unrepairable in most parts of the country if you spring a leak. Ones that are fully welded, though not all shops are setup to do aluminum welding, can be repaired. So the actual extra cost may end up being what you paid for the rad you have now if you end up throwing it away in a couple years. If you do a web search you'll see many stories about Griffin radiators (epoxy type) from unhappy customers who learned they had a rad that performed well until it sprung a leak and was found to be unrepairable.

As an aside, anyone needs to be careful in comparing price on copper/brass radiators. If the frame of reference is more than a couple years old the difference may not be as much as believed at today's prices. Copper/brass has skyrocketed recently and newer production radiators reflect that.